VENTURA COUNTY ROUNDUP | Countywide / SANTA CRUZ ISLAND

Diving-Trip Death Was a Drowning

A man found unconscious on the ocean floor near Santa Cruz Island drowned, the Ventura County Coroner's office reported Sunday.

The man, Daren Cornelius of Oakley in Contra Costa County, was pronounced dead on arrival Saturday afternoon at Los Robles Regional Medical Center after being discovered on the ocean floor in full dive gear. A coroner's official said the official cause of death was asphyxia by drowning.

Cornelius was among a group of people diving from an 82-foot commercial vessel, Vision.

The Coast Guard is investigating the death. Officials from Santa Barbara-based Truth Aquatics, which owns Vision, could not be reached for comment.